Jürgen Klopp has said there are more chapters to be written in his “wonderful” Liverpool story before it ends but victory in the Carabao Cup would be of greater importance to the club than his own legacy.
The Liverpool manager claimed Wednesday’s comeback against Luton represented one new chapter, with his depleted team going four points clear at the top of the Premier League on a rousing night at Anfield, and that he “couldn’t give a shit” what the outside world thought of his exuberant celebrations.
Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Chelsea presents an opportunity for another and, although Klopp denies that silverware would mean more in his final season, he believes Liverpool can deliver a memorable farewell tour.
“I want to win on Sunday but not for me or my trophy cabinet,” said Klopp, who will wait until the last moment to see whether Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez and Dominik Szoboszlai are fit to play. “It is for the boys, for the club and for the people. That is much more important and everything will go on.
“What we are doing at the moment is we write a wonderful book, I would say. We wrote it and we are still writing a wonderful book and when I leave we close that book. We will put it on the shelf and then someone else will write another wonderful book. That is the idea. I will not leave anything inside, I will give absolutely everything until the last second.”
Klopp could add four trophies to his Anfield collection before he steps down at the end of the season. “Yes there is space for some chapters,” he said. “I am not writing the résumé already – not at all. I am 100% focused on trying to create a few special memories on top of what we have done.
“We will see what is possible but the basis we created so far – come on, 60 points is an extraordinary amount with all the things that have gone on. And we all know it should be 61 or 63. [But for the VAR fiasco at Tottenham.] We all know that! It is so special and let’s keep going. The red part of Wembley should be rocking – that would be really nice. This team deserves each push.”
The celebration police were out again this week after Klopp fist-pumped all four sides of Anfield after victory over Luton. He insisted the reaction was not a sign that he is cherishing every win as if it could be his last.
“Sometimes things happen to me – it’s not that I plan it or whatever,” he said. “It was a really special game, a game I will never forget and will tell my grandkids about. It was such a wonderful performance, in a great atmosphere, and that’s why it happened. You can make of my celebrations what you want.
“I heard the discussions – that Mikel [Arteta] over-celebrated the win against us. That definitely did not come from me. Everybody can do whatever. I didn’t invent fist-pumps and I don’t have the copyright on it and I don’t want it. You do what you do for yourself and your people and what the outside world thinks about it I couldn’t give a shit to be honest. And you can write that exactly like that. This is for us and nobody else.”
